Pokémon Legends: Court of Kings

[Jump Einatz]

Riviére Walk

"Is he now..." Jullien mused. Unlike Juliet, he had not had the 'pleasure' of meeting Zack Redgrave personally. This was a trainer with a clear thirst for trouble. A future thorn in their side, perhaps. For now, an amusing source of entertainment.

He turned off the subtitles and unmuted the news.

Shalour City

Skarada came to a quick stop when Benedict landed in front of him. With his back turned to the shore, Ben may not have noticed the portal opening on the beach. It was just a short sprint down, or it would have been with no obstacles. "You must be with Salieri, ay mate?"

This trainer hadn't been part of his scout's mission report. The only allies he knew for sure Salieri had were Zack Redgrave and Matheson Leroux, both accounted for. A wrench in the plan was to be expected somewhere, but not so soon. Nevertheless, Skarada remained confident, looming over Ben with a manic grin.

Sergio's massive ears perked up as Francis and Manny flew at them. Finally, something was attacking them. Exciting! The Lopunny had a few options here, but she knew Ska wanted to get moving and fast. So she would try to get Manny out of the way as best she could.

Keasbey, ever the support Pokémon, flapped his wings and created a Tailwind with Prankster. The sudden draft boosted his party's speed, but it was not enough for him to dodge Francis' own priority boosted attack at the same time. The Murkrow took a glancing blow, spiraling aside in the air on his way over to Ska.

Manny's launch, though speedy, was linear, and his Force Palm still moved at his normal pace. Without time to get out of the way unless she used a Quick Attack of her own, Sergio ducked low and rose up, one of her long ears curled like a fist to delver a twisting Sky Uppercut. Her Fighting move would collide with his, creating a shockwave that blew nearby grass right out of its roots. Sergio would minimize the damage she took with the clash, and the midair Meditite would have no way to brace himself from being launched high into the air.

If Manny was thrown up high by the uppercut, Sergio would run up to her captain's side so they could continue on their way, keeping her ears open for Manny's return to the ground.

Ska felt the Tailwind ripple around him. He'd be faster now for a short time, but there was still the matter of Ben to attend to. "I normally appreciate a good rapport, but I've got places to be!"

So at this close range, he ran at Benedict. The pirate captain, with a hand near his belt just in case he need another Pokémon or Trap Card, dashed and aimed a full body tackle at the teenager's way. Successful contact would send the both of them tumbling down the hill, onto the beach, and into the small vortex that was waiting below. That vortex would send them careening through a mysterious connective dimension, and spit them out in the center of the Tower of Mastery's compound.

If he missed, Ska would just keep running down the hill, the Tailwind speeding him up. The portal would be open long enough for Sergio and Keasbey to catch up. Either way, he was gunning with tunnel vision towards his goal. So close, so close to a wealth of treasure that'd last him and his people the rest of their days. All the glitter, and the shining eyes of his yet to be born daughter, were the only things on his mind as he ran.  

[Marsuru]

'Scizorite,' Gurkinn recognised the stone at once. The vault contained many, but still he had to ask. 'From where did you get this?'  

[Spinne Biss]

"I won a gambling match," Helena said, proud of herself. "Apparently it was the most precious thing the guy had. I don't know where he got it from."  

[Marsuru]

'The stars,' Gurkinn smiled. 'A mega stone like that will allow you to Mega Evolve a Scizor. Quite the magnificent sight, I assure you.' He paused. 'Would you like to try it with Écarlate?'  

[Spinne Biss]

He knew that name too. Helena frowned. "Don't read my mind." Écarlate was at the Pokemon Center, though it wouldn't be a huge chore to go and grab him.  

[Klarp Glornharm]

"Sally? I mean, I know A Sally, but I don't think we're talking about the same person here." Ben replied, feigning ignorance as well as he could. The harder it was for this person to link him to Salieri, the more thrown off he might be. "You don't seem like the type that's only pissed off one person. Can always try again."

Keasbey would be targeted, then, with a whirlwind, meant to send him flying into that vortex that Ska was so intent on getting into, which would hopefully drive the support pokemon out of their contest.

Manny, who had been launched, briefly considered his options before launching a psychic down at the Lopunny, aiming to strike somewhere at the legs and cause the opponent to stumble, which would leave Ska alone to charge Benedict. In theory.

Given that fancy or flashy moves that would put Ska behind him were, pretty much, a bad idea, Benedict had to make another plan. And given he wasn't like Sal the martial arts expert, he went with the only one he could think of in that short of a moment.

As Ska charged him, intent on turning a full-body tackle with his momentum into a tumble down a hill, Ben would plant himself, and strike at the last possible moment that would still allow him to punch properly. His fist would be aimed to strike Ska's jaw, and would combine Benedict's own punching power with Ska's momentum if it connected.  

[Jump Einatz]

((Edited to include some Pachi))

Benedict's untrained punch was no match for the war veteran. Skarada lowered himself at Ben's chest, which left Ben's only punching option to his jaw as too short range to be fully powered. Either way, Ska took it. It wasn't the first punch to the face he had taken, and judging by how this day was going, probably not the last.

Still stood his ground. Gotta respect that.

The two of them went down the hill, rolling as one through the sand to the vortex. Keasbey saw this and opted not to do anything about the Whirlwind, allowing the current of air to take him down. He flew with it and latched his talons onto Skarada's coat, assisting their momentum, and dragging the three of them through the portal.

Sergio heard the strange whooshing noise of something entering the vortex. This time she did use her Quick Attack, jumping away to avoid the Psychic coming down at her and dashing down the beach. If she, Francis, and Manny wanted to follow their trainers into the portal, they needed to hurry, as it was growing smaller and would soon be gone.

Inside the portal, Skarada, Benedict and Keasbey unwound and were freefalling through this mysterious spiral of purple space. They passed through an interdimensional rainstorm, leaving them all soaking wet as they edged towards a light and were spit back into their world.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Through the scope of her sniper rifle from the apartment balcony, Pachi watched the pirate man and the other boy tumble down into a hole in space. "That looks like fun."

Now her target was nowhere in sight, but she had managed to stall Ska long enough for that boy to catch up. Pachi trained the rifle on the Tower island, then up at the Fishbone hidden in the cloud cover, then back again. This back and forth went on until the barrel of the rifle bent and made a gagging sound. [Stoooop it,] the rifle pleaded, motion sick.

"Sorry, Catori," the witch apologized. "Call HQ."

The rifle Transformed again, changing into a smaller shape. Still cream colored with green highlights, it became a walkie talkie that crackled with sound. The dark skinned woman put it to her ear and spoke.

"Pachi to Flare HQ, Pachi to Flare HQ. Hiiiiii. I found Skarada. He's, uh. Hmmm." She scratched the back of her head and saw police cruisers close in on the beach to set up a blockade. "There's a whole thing going on, with pirates. Yo ho yo ho...no, I didn't see the Stones. I'm going to wait for my moment."

The voice on the other end grew louder, squabbling angrily. Pachi's brow furrowed in annoyance. Pink mist cascaded off her free hand, a private display of power. "No one tells me how to do what I do. If you don't like it...hmm...you can take it up with him. I'm going to wait for my moment. What's your name?" She paced across the balcony. Muffled screams and screeches from unknown creatures emanated from the mist coming off her palm. "I want to know, what is your name?...so when I get back, I can find you, and show you what a nightmare is...hello? Hello?"

Pachi took the walkie talkie away from her ear. "They hung up. How rude. Yes, very rude." She sighed and sat back in the plastic lawn chair, dropping the walkie talkie. Before it hit the floor it Transformed again, this time turning into a Smeargle covered in swirling, tribal looking tattoos. "Catori, we might see a city fall today, if we're not lucky. But the kids, the kids are the future. The kids will work it out...may as well watch."

The Smeargle sat cross legged on the ground next to her, looking off at the distant battle. Pachi looked to her side, agitated at something that was not there. She kept looking off to the side, twisting in her chair until she was looking at you. "You can watch too, but no, there's no popcorn."

Tower of Mastery

The portal dropped the three of them on one of the cobblestone pathways between acolyte bunks, near the canteen in the center of the island. It was a hard landing, which made rolling down the hill to the beach feel like a breeze. Skarada groaned as he got to his feet, grabbing onto a barrel of water next to him for support.

"Thanks love," he said, intending for the phone in his pocket to pick up his voice.
"Ska, the cannon's been stalled," Erin said back, loud enough for him to hear.

He winced, getting over the pain while taking the phone out of his pocket with an eye on Benedict, who would get up any second. "You tried firin' it then?"
"Yeah and no luck. I'm blocked out. Should be back in within nine minutes."
"That's too long."
"So stall."
Ska nodded, unhappy with that turn of events. "Be safe, Erin."
"You too, love."

Skarada hung up the call. If the rest of the Pokémon were coming through the portal, they'd come out now, and the portal would shrink until it disappeared. "I like your guts, kid," he told Benedict with a slow clap. Keasbey flew over and landed on his captain's shoulder. "How's about you try showin' them off again? I bet you're dying for the chance."

He beckoned for Benedict to get up. Up in the air he saw his strike team of pirates circling around the Tower with their wingsuits like birds of prey. They would have more trouble with Benedict than Ska would, so the captain took it upon himself to battle Ben on his own. The less distracted his pirates were, the quicker they could get their imprisoned scout and their haul of Mega Stones and be on their way.

Countdown to Miasma Cannon: 9 minutes 45 seconds ((Ben's timeline is now aligned with Zack's))

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Close by, Zack issued his declaration to the pirates that were rounding up the acolytes in front of the Tower itself. The Tower's big door was wide open, and the sounds of happy ransacking could be heard from outside. The four pirates keeping their eyes on the township's denizens, lined up on their knees, looked over, surprised.

"You ain't supposed to be here!" Zephyr said, her Ekans hissing on her arm. "Cap'n said so."
"Well he is," Rheese noted, also spotting Zack's Charmeleon. "So let's give him a welcome party."

He whistled, and his nearby Liepard (Level 30) sprang to action. She meowed, and then opened her maw to blast out rings of black light. The Dark Pulse was leveled in Zack and Malis' direction.

Zephyr lifted up her arm, giving her Ekans (Level 24) a clear line of sight to shoot an attack of his own. The snake spit up an Acid Spray in a parabola, shooting it high so the mass of Poison would drop down like a grenade at their target's location.

The Fishbone - Bridge

"Beepboop shall we play a game?"

Ivan's 'game' looked like a digital game of chess, but it was really a bane of the airship's system, slowing down the connection to the cannon to a crawl. Erin furiously clicked and typed away at whatever machinations Ivan set up from her seat at the controls, breaking it down slowly.

She wasn't alone in the room. Her Sableye, Hawkins, sat on the desk next to her, his feet dangling back and forth merrily. Ahead of her was a huge steel bell, hovering and spinning rapidly at the center of the room. The Bronzong, Zolof, was busy making portals whenever Erin called for it as she monitored her crew's positions on a different screen to her right. Zolof could only make one set of portals at a time, and so they kept spinning to generate Psychic energy for use on demand.

Finally, she had two pirates with her waiting near the doors. They postured like they were bored, leaning against the walls with their arms crossed, but they clutched Pokéballs in their hands. They were fidgeting just to get into a fight. Erin liked that sort of trigger happy nature in her bodyguards.

The doors to the bridge opened, putting the pirate guards on alert. 241 stepped into the room, holding out the Sablenite for Erin to see. She looked over her shoulder and cooed, momentarily breaking from her cyber war with Ivan. "Ooooh, Hawkins, that's the one ain't it?"

Hawkins jumped up from the desk, snatching the Stone and turning it over in his little claws. The Sableye nodded and snickered, mesmerized by how shiny his relfection was in its luster. "Nice job, 241. Keep watch in the corridors. I hear we have company."

((Btw, Keasbey's level is 30, and Sergio's level is 48. Skarada did a little grinding since Route 10))  

[Klarp Glornharm]

Can't have that, now can we? Francis thought, and activated whirlwind once more, this time sending Manny flying down towards the hole, with the speed of whirlwind, which could throw some mighty large pokemon out of a fight, the pokemon would reach the hole first.

And would close it with a Reflect the instant he passed through, the wall of light that was meant to weaken physical attacks now being used as a bar between Lopunny and the portal. It would also prevent Francis from passing through, but it would be helpful in keeping the Lopunny back. So long as the plan worked.

Of course, if Lopunny did try to force through the light, then Francis would blast them back with a Whirlwind to keep them out.

If they accepted that the two were stuck there, the flying type would remain in the sky far more passively, and even speak to the other pokemon.

[So... How's the whole pirate thing?]

*******

For Ben, everything about the whole interdimensional rainstorm scenario sucked. He'd failed to stop Ska, he was in a storm now, and he was tumbling outside of the portal. It was a disorienting experience, but he kept his ears on Ska's conversation. All-in-all, it told a whole lot more to the story. Weapon would have been fired even with Ska down there.

With his crew too, possibly.

"So I guess you're not afraid of this weapon then." Ben replied, pushing himself to his feet, sunglasses pushed back onto his face. If all went well on the other end of the portal, Manny would be the only one coming through, otherwise it would probably be Manny and Lopunny, leaving Francis no choice but to make his way over there manually.

Manny would take a stance, and Ben would release Essence.

"Who knows, maybe that means I don't have to be scared of it either?" He mused aloud as Essence began with a Psych-up to copy Manny's stat buffs.  

[Jump Einatz]

Shalour City

With the huge gap in priority, Sergio's Quick Attack brought her down to the portal before Francis' Whirlwind started. She made it through, and so did Manny, before the vortex closed on both ends. Francis was left at the beach, the Tower and the fight close on the horizon.

Behind him the police would slide their cards to a halt, rushing out with all lights flashing to detain the emergency. Higher in the air still was a news helicopter, one that had just reported their sightings of Salieri and Zack and had now moved on to Benedict.

"-and yet another trainer has taken it upon themselves to combat the terrorist menace, as you can see here," he'd be able to barely hear over the chopper's blades. "The unknown teenager was just seen fighting the wanted criminal, and assumed kickstarter of this event, Pirate King Skarada. The two have just disappeared in what appears to be another wormhole-"

The reporter would go on and on. Right now, this was the best news story of their life.

Tower of Mastery

Sergio flipped out of the portal, just as wet as the others, landing on her feet next to Skarada. Right after Manny followed through, the portal snapped shut.

Essence was taking the time to set up, and so Skarada's two Pokémon thought best to do the same while they could. Sergio's lithe muscles loosened up with an Agility, doubling her already formidable Speed as she cracked her neck. Before that happened, Keasbey's Prankster enhanced Taunt came through, targeting Essence.

"Brawwwk! Your mother's a weed!" Keasbey squawked with shrill speed like a schoolyard bully. "Your mother's a weed!"

"Well me, I'm not worried about it," Ska said, his hand near his Trap Deck holster and his other hand resting on his belt. "Odds of being immune are six percent, I'm in the 'lucky' minority. Not so sure 'bout the rest of that city. If you wanna play your odds, be my guest."

The sunglasses made Benedict immune to being targeted by Keasbey's Quash. Sure, it was summertime, everyone wore them under this kind of sun. But Ska didn't believe in coincidences. This trainer knew Salieri for sure. He was too ready to fight for a bystander. Ska made sure not to underestimate this one. He'd done it before with Salieri, and it cost him an eye. And right now, a green twinkle was shining behind his bangs where that eye used to be.

"Comin' from a mongrel like myself, this prob'ly doesn't mean much. But your moxie's commendable." This fight was breaking out, that was for certain. Ska was ready to make a quick draw from his deck, and his Lopunny was always itching for a fight. But as long as he was still standing and his ship was still afloat, he had time.

"I take it you know me. What's your name, mate?"  

[Jump Einatz]

Outside The Fishbone

“Incoming call from Mia.”

Banksy took a sharp dive downwards, towards the pitch black clouds that had come out of the airship. With the Aura Spheres and a Swellow hot on their tail, she swooped below the hull, flying under the ship. Banksy spun around, flying backwards now, and fired a Flame Burst at the energy bombs. The Flame Burst blew up the first Aura Sphere, and the resulting blue and red fiery explosion took out the second one as well, forcing the Swellow to divert off to the side abruptly. The Torkoal faced forward again and pulled up sharply to come out from under the ship.

“Pick up the call,” said Salieri, holding onto Banksy’s peeled shell and looking over her shoulder. As soon as they were flying above deck again, the twin Blastoise were locked onto their position and firing once more, this time with Hydro Pumps. High pressure blasts of water followed them higher into the sky, rupturing at their apex in a stream of rainy bursts as Banksy deftly spiraled around them.

“Salieri? Salieri?”
“Now’s not a good time-“ Sal growled. The Swellow swooped from seemingly out of nowhere behind the single high mast’s Jolly Roger flag. They made a pass at Sal, but Banksy caught the bird with her mouth by the scruff of their neck and tossed them aside, still flying up.
“It’s on the news, Ivan got me up to speed.”

The pirates ordered their Blastoise to use Aura Sphere again when Banksy flew higher out of range of their Hydro Pumps. Two more Aura seeking missiles throttled their way up after Sal and Banksy, until they were all high enough that they flew over the cloud cover to the sun. The helicopters could see them again.

“Prou’s still under their control, Mia,” Salieri angrily lamented, loud enough to be heard over the rush of wind. “I knew the deal would go bad, but not like this.”

“No kidding. Erin’s getting through Ivan’s Embargo, the countdown’s sped up.”
“Seriously? Banksy, land!”

Banksy pulled a half loop, turning back around on the pursuing projectiles and diving down. A Flamethrower streamed from her mouth, dissolving both Aura Spheres on her descent to the deck.

“Listen, Ivan connected me to their system. Erin knows their code more than I do but I’m doing my best to mess it up. Now Ivan’s gonna help you.”
“Help me how?”
“Help you fight.”
“HOW?”

Salieri and Banksy pulled up suddenly before crashing into the deck, making a slick landing at the bow. The three pirates and the two Blastoise faced them from across the deck, while the Swellow swirled overhead. Salieri jumped off the turtle’s back, keeping her bandanna in place over the turbulent winds with one hand.

The intruder sirens blared from inside the ship, a single low buzz repeated every few seconds. The red lights scattered around the infrastructure spun even after the siren backed down. Reinforcements were coming. More pirates were spilling out the side doors of the main halls, running towards the deck.

The pirates on deck snickered. “Cap’n was right! Lil’ Sally’s all grown up now.”
“Still a pipsqueak, nuthin’s changed.”
The last one, Salieri recognized. He had dumped a bowl of hot soup on her head when she was in her pirate phase. “Last chance to jump ship, Kalosian.”

Durendal was still behind with Lethal and Serene. Oberon wasn’t ready to take on a crewed ship. That left Banksy, Biz Marquis and Reynard. As Salieri started walking at the pirates, reaching for a Pokéball, Mia said, “Tell Ivan to actualize and point your Pokégear at your enemy.”

Salieri stopped. “What are you talking about?” she asked, incredulous.
“I said last chance, girl.”
“I will explain later, just trust me. Tell Ivan to actualize and point your Pokégear at your enemy,” Mia repeated, her level tone becoming more urgent. “Right now!”
“She’s not listening. Blastoise, FIRE!”

One of the Blastoise obliged, pointing a cannon at Salieri and firing another Hydro Pump. Salieri gulped, and held up her palm at the Hydro Pump as if she was going to catch it. The Pokégear on her wrist buzzed. “Ivan! Actualize!”
“Beepboop finally.”

The Pokégear’s screen shined blue, so bright that it glared in Salieri’s eyes. She squinted, still able to see what she could only describes as blue and red square confetti fly out of the screen in one formless stream, floating in front of her and converging into a shape. A smooth hovering creature with disembodied blue ovals for arms, a blue tail and a duck-like head.

Electricity crackled in front of their beak and the Pokémon’s head rattled. The electric energy lit up and fired, a Charge Beam that pierced into the Hydro Pump just before it hit. The water bubbled and parted, splashing down onto the deck.

Salieri jumped back, startled and tense, and White Smoke flared from Banksy’s shell in reflexive defense. “The ******** is that?” The pirates must have been just as shocked, because they stood there with their mouths agape.

“Salieri, meet Ivan. Ivan’s a digital Pokémon.” Ivan turned to face Salieri and gave her a half bow. The texture which made up their body, that Salieri now realized had been pixels, shifted and glitched every now and then before snapping back into place. Similarly, without warning, Ivan’s head or limbs occasionally rattled. “Porygon. Model Z now, I guess.”
“Y-you…this whole time? A Pokémon?”
“I know I have some explaining to do-” Mia admitted, getting cut off before she could actually explain anything.
“Later, Mia,” Salieri answered without much focus, her attention on her new yet old Pokémon in front of her. Despite the race against time on her hands, it took her only a few seconds to look back and see how much sense it made that Ivan was indeed more than just a program. “You can fight? You can help me find Prou?”

Ivan nodded. It was bizarre to see the AI this quiet. Sal figured that without a speaker on a device, Ivan couldn’t talk. Ivan floated to the Pokégear and became absorbed into it, dissolving into pixels like water down a drain on her wrist. On the screen was a blue and red thumbs up emoji. “I have said it before. I do as you command Salieri, no matter what, beepboop.”

Salieri’s eyes shined their bright, heated amber. She started walking forward again, her Pokégear still glowing blue before her walk sped up. “…where is she?”
“It’s just a Pokémon!” one of the pirates called out, snapping them out of their wonder. “Nothin’s changed!”
She was running at them now. “Knock her overboard!”

One of the pirates ran right back at her, rearing back for a haymaker right hook. Salieri jumped and flipped, upside down over the pirate with her hands around his neck. Her flip continued and she landed, reversing orientations with the pirate who was now upside down over her. Salieri let go with a heavy heave, guillotine throwing the pirate into the other two and knocking them over like bowling pins.

The thrown pirate could hardly breathe, rubbing at his tightened throat. “No way she’s this strong,” another pirate said while they struggled to get up.

The two Blastoise turned to face her, and she was standing between both of them. “Punch,” Ivan instructed.

The first turtle shot a Hydro Pump as Salieri was already moving, diving off to the side and throwing at a wide hook with her Pokégear arm. From the glowing screen came a black orb of convulsing energy sparkling with yellow electricity. The Zap Cannon veered wildly in the air, a curveball that knocked the Blastoise out and into the guardrail. The Hydro Pump barely missed her when she dove, spraying her with drops of water while it whizzed past her.

The second Blastoise had gotten behind Sal, embracing her with a wide bear hug in preparation to Seismic Toss her off the ship. She quickly raised up her arm before her limbs got pinned to her sides. Feeling the tight pressure of the Blastoise’s bear hug, Sal struggled to draw breath as she raised her Pokégear to the Water type’s face.

The screen rapidly flashed red and blue, colors that were reflected in the Blastoise’s eyes. They let go of Salieri, unable to stand firm as they began to spasm uncontrollably, Paralyzed and Confused.

Salieri wasn’t sure what exactly had given the Blastoise the seizure, as she hadn’t seen the lights herself, but she took advantage of the opportunity and jabbed at the air with a boxer’s swiftness, throwing another Charge Beam out of the Pokégear. It hit hard, and a second one with a boost from the first thrown with another jab knocked the Blastoise off the ship and out of sight.

“Whoa,” Salieri said, looking over her refurbished old smart device with a new appreciation as the Swellow dove at her undetected. Seeing that Salieri wasn’t paying attention, the bird ironically paid no attention to Banksy, who cooked the bird with a Flamethrower. The Swellow slid to the deck, unconscious.

Salieri could hear the other pirates coming down. “Ivan, give me your battles specs. Abridged version,” Salieri commanded as she ran to the nearest entrance inside with Banksy in tow.
“Opening file…”

The steel door slid open and closed behind them as six pirates flooded onto the deck. Four of them stayed behind, ready for the next challengers as they released a wave of Pokémon: Mantine (30), Swoobat (32), Seviper (31), and a Shiftry (33). The other two ran back inside after Salieri.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Near the bottom of the ship, Caboose and Hazard had so far gone undetected. The lower half of the ship was lined with porthole windows that revealed the hallways and the hangar inside. Some of the windows were emergency windows, meant to be ejected in case of a necessary exit. The only other manufactured ways inside through the bottom of the ship were the closed hangar doors, the folded landing gears, and the septic release.

A lone pirate patrolling the lower deck thought he saw something out one of the windows from down the hall. Something small and yellow, flying. A Pokémon? Curious, the pirate started over to the window where Caboose and Hazard could be seen outside.

((I updated Sal's profile with her new/old Pokémon, Ivan))  

[Marsuru]

The Foot of the Tower

Fighting had broken out all over the place, but Zack wasn't too concerned about that. He was more concerned about the Liepard prowling towards him, and the Ekans hissing on its owner's arm. Luckily, he had Malis on the rooftop to his back, ready to break one while he dodged the other. Divide and conquer, or something like that. He oozed confidence, and hoped Malis would do his thing any second.

The Liepard charged a pulse.

The Ekans sprayed acid.

Nothing. Zack grit his teeth and glanced at the silent rooftop, his pokémon either hidden behind the ridge or gone. He was lucky the Liepard was fast. Its Dark Pulse struck the trainer on the chest before he could dive, lifted him from the floor, and drove him into the building behind as the Acid Spray ate the ground where he'd stood. Zack tasted copper, spat out a glob of blood as dark thoughts raced through his head. The tower on fire, the pirates, his sister helpless and screaming for help that wouldn't come.

'Malis,' he growled, pushing himself away from the wall. The academy taught him to focus and filter out distractions during a battle. It took everything he had to squash the Dark Pulse as he spat up more blood, which stained his teeth. 'God dammit, Malis. You little s**t.'

This was not going to plan. He still had Fatass, whatever good an untrained Snorlax would do. Maybe serve as a distraction while he ran away? He couldn't leave these people to those pirates and, whether he found Helena or not, it mattered. But damn if it wasn't agony just to stand up, or see without his vision fading in and out. Zack caught the eye of a child, hiding frightened in his mother's arms, and made up his mind.

'Nice shot, dickhead,' he shouted to the pirates, taking a heavy step forward. He grasped Fatass's ball. 'Let's see if you can hit the broadside of a barn.'

Before Zack could throw, a ringing voice echoed across the battlefield. From off to the side, the air cracked, pulsing with visible distortion shaded pink. The Hyper Voice cast its rings on Liepard, following through with a megaton blast of power that, if it hit, would send the cat flailing into unconsciousness. Seelie followed his attack into battle, standing off to Zack's side, giving the trainer a short nod of recognition. Years of living with Gurkinn had unlocked Seelie's Pixilate ability, which skyrocketed the power of the level 38 Sylveon's Hyper Voice.

Zack stayed his hand, relieved at having an ally, but mostly hoping that Sylveon could learn Heal Pulse.

They could not.  

[Klarp Glornharm]

Tower of Mastery!
Ben took a deep breath. "I'm a bit of a gambler, and I'm feeling rather lucky today."

He wasn't sure his pokemon could take on Skar's. And now, apparently, stalling tactics were less helpful.

But there were two things he could do to complicate Skar's plan.

"Name's Benedict. Mongrel or no, I'm always happy to take a compliment." Manny would telepathically push himself, trying to reach as many people as possible. There were plenty of cops that would be too scared to act with the threat of death up there.

Sunny Day activated, meant to rip away the cloud cover that had no doubt been giving Ska's pirates cover up above. Benedict's voice would telepathically reach out to every mind in range of Manny's ability.

Their weapon isn't working. You have less than ten minutes to help us stop them!

"Wonder how many people heard that one?" His lips curled into a grin. Ben wouldn't rush Ska, but if Ska's pokemon didn't attack, Essence would rush the Lopunny. Manny, meanwhile, would take on a more patient stance for the next step of the fighting, instead opting to direct his allies.  

[Marsuru]

Gurkinn cleared his throat.

Below the Airship

Noticing the guard before the guard noticed her, Hazard ducked away from the window as he approached. With her back to the underside of the ship, Hazard grinned and pointed upwards.

[Watch this,] she said before slipping through the airship's hull. If Caboose watched through the window he would see the guard, then a dark shadow emerge behind him, black except for a pair of slitted red eyes. Even if he saw Caboose, the guard had to turn around at some point, and that was when Hazard changed form into a claw-like splatter, screeching like a whistling kettle, that would terrify and Hypnotise the guard into unconsciousness.

Unless something happened to stop that, the guard would slump to the floor and Hazard would snap back to her usual shape and hover up to the window to give Caboose the all clear. [I might need to some help to shove this guy into a locker.]

Realising she was inside and Caboose was allll the way out there, Hazard undid the emergency latch on the emergency window, so both her message and her partner could get through. It was then she learned why an aircraft doesn't usually have openable windows. The cabin depressurized and the window snapped open, tripping an alarm. Air rushed out, nearly ripping the gaseous ghost into the sky. The guard's body would lift up as small objects from the lower deck were sucked right out, but Hazard would pin him to the floor by actively levitating against him.

[KEKEKE,] she laughed, a bag of nerves, shouting over the roar of wind, [I THINK I MADE A MISTAKE.]

If he fought hard enough, Caboose ought to made it inside. If he could plug the gap, Hazard's mistake would be rectified but they would have guards on them. If he didn't, and left Hazard pinning the first guard's body to the floor, then Caboose could keep the ship's attention on the breach and away from whatever he planned to do, at the cost of an ally. Until the window stopped sucking things out of it, the other guards would likely keep their distance, but was only a matter of time before the pressure evened out and they became bold enough to investigate.

Further Below the Airship

Lethal, Dune and Serene had continued their ascent even after Prou vanished. They had lost their chance to catch her, but they might still be able to stop whatever the pirates had planned. They just had to be sneaky about it.

Serene thought hard, perched atop Lethal's claw as the Clawitzer expended a jet of water to keep them soaring. They were close to reaching Lethal's maximum height, where he would succumb to gravity and fall back to earth. Without something solid to blast, the water type couldn't keep flying, and he would have to get considerably closer to the ground before his water had enough pressure to propel them skyward again.

In other words, Serene had a few seconds to come up with something. Luckily, Lethal came up with it first. He spoke to her, but it wasn't very clear because he frothed at the mouth. Serene, however, was a mind-reader and understood him perfectly.

[Excuse meeee!] she shouted to Dune. [We're going to Teleport above the shiiiiiip!] Lethal reached his apex and hung in space. [Are you comiiiiiing?]

Serene could spare the Pawniard a few seconds to respond and make the physical contact needed to join in on their Teleport. After that, she vanished in a flash of light.

Above the Airship

Lethal and Serene, and Dune if he wished to join them, would reappear far above the Fishbone. Unless something were staring directly at their patch of sky, they wouldn't see the pokémon through the wispy, swirling clouds. Serene felt a rush of adrenaline as they started to fall, though she knew Lethal would slow their descent in time to make it non-lethal by aiming a blast of water at one of the deck pokémon and maintaining it until they reached a safe falling height.

Which, unless Dune had another plan, was exactly what happened. If the deck pokémon didn't spot the trio, Lethal would launched a Scald at the Swoobat that would pin the flying type to the deck. Keeping up the pressure until they came low enough to fall would likely mean a critical hit, and unconsciousness for the bat pokémon.  

[Spinne Biss]

Tower of Mastery - Township

"Just have Écarlate ready to go!" Helena said.

"Yeah, we're on it, just be careful," Azucena replied.

The feel and weight of the new bracelet was felt on Helena's wrist as she exited Gurkinn's chamber.

The sky had split open, just after the monk had given her a demonstration of Mega Evolution.

"I'll come back," she had promised the old aura user, "if you mean what you're saying about training me."

A man had come into the chamber and told them that the pirates were headed for the vault. That would be Helena's first objective.

As she burst out into the township she could catch a sight of the battle that was happening. Benedict, Skara, and Zack were all present. Her heart dropped when she saw her brother battling, and then she turned toward the Tower. "Get me as close as you can," she said.

"Then go and get Écarlate."

In a flash, the two of them disappeared and reappeared at the highest window entrance of the tower, at the very pinnacle of the top floor. The vault would be nearby.

***

Shalour City Pokemon Center

"If she's fighting then I wanna fight too," Bridgette complained.

"No, absolutely not," Azucena said.

Écarlate had been released from his pokeball and was waiting. In moments Loki appeared before them.

[She needs you.]

Écarlate's balls were held within his claws. The Scizor nodded, and the duo disappeared in another flash of light.

***

Tower of Mastery - Foot of The Tower

It wouldn't take long for Loki to arrive, catching up with the timeline as he appeared above the Ekans pirate, a psybeam charged up and released as he flashed to the scene.

Tower of Mastery - The Pinnacle

Helena and Écarlate met within the halls of the top of the tower. He returned her Pokemon to her, but Helena simply clipped them to her belt.

"Come on, we have to get to the vault." With that, the two of them were off.  

[Jump Einatz]

Tower Canteen

“Not as many as you’d like.” Skarada, one of the closest people, heard the message loud and clear. He was posturing, unsure of the real answer, but his confidence was real. Who would save their cargo now? The Fishbone had a headstart, with the numbers to back it up.

He held his arms out wide, his bare chest showing as his coat flapped behind him. “You feel that, Benny? That’s the winds of luck. I’m gonna win today.” He took a sharp inhale of that salty sea breeze and looked up at the vast sky above. “For once, the wind blows on Orre.”

Sunny Day would fail to start up, stopped by Keasbey’s Taunt. This misstep gave Skarada’s Pokémon a little more time to prepare themselves. He grinned as well while Keasbey flapped his wings with a priority Defog, creating a gust of wind that would wipe away the Reflect and make it easier to hit Essence.

Sergio, meanwhile, would use Entrainment, pirouetting with one knee raised up to her chest. If Manny saw this, he would be compelled to copy the dance, replacing his Abilities with hers: Cute Charm, Klutz, and the Hidden Limber.

“Trick is, you gotta work to make luck reality.” Ska’s grin became wider, sharp and wicked. There was a hint of ingrained anger behind his one visible eye. He drew a Trap Card from his holster.

The pirate captain flicked the Fire Trap Card in Essence’s path, where it activated. If she kept dashing forward, she would trip it, and a short lived pillar of flame would erupt from under her feet to inflict damage on the Grass type. Sergio stayed close by Skarada’s side for if Essence sidestepped the trap, on the reactive. The Lopunnite on her collar and the Keystone hidden behind Skarada’s sideswept bangs both glowed a golden brown color.

Keasbey flew off of Skarada’s shoulder, eyes on Manny. He dipped his head low, so his eyes were hidden by the brim of his feathery crown, and a shadowy mass formed in front of him. The darkness writhed and twisted, become a black copy of Manny with golden gleaming eyes. The Foul Play was a copy of Manny physically, possessing the same Attack Power. It ran at its mirror image, and charged a jumping knee strike at the Meditite.

Across The Island

With the boosts to his power, Manny’s psychic message was broadcast to everyone on the island, reaching pirates and acolytes alike. They looked up and around, confused as to where that voice was coming from. Two young brothers on their knees in front of their home saw the expression of the pirate keeping them there change to confusion. No matter the source, the message was real.

The acolytes nodded to each other, then sprang. One swept the pirate’s legs, dropping the thug to the ground. The other jumped on top of the pirate, pinning him there.

Elsewhere, a mother ordered her son to run away while her underleveled Grotle fended off a pirate trying to drag them to the center of town, buying the boy some time.

And on another end of the island, an acolyte hiding in the shadows of an alley jumped a pirate, giving two more acolytes a chance to fight back.

They were not trained to fight, but they were students of these sacred grounds. This was their home. And with a solid hope, they would fight back.

And thus, all across the island, the acolytes rose up to struggle against the would be thieves.

Foot of the Tower

“Mrrow?” was all the Liepard could manage to say before being struck by the sound wave, flinging her unconscious body into a stone statue that crumbled on impact.
Zephyr covered her ears, and saw a shadow above her. “What the-“

Loki appeared, shooting an array of rainbows that knocked Zephyr and the Ekans on her arm out cold into the dirt. The other three pirates jumped back, startled. “He’s got back up!”
“The cannon’s not workin’?”
“Who cares? Blow ‘em up here!”

They released more Pokémon: a Tentacruel (32), a Simipour (31), and a Noctowl (31).

The Tentracruel, standing on a mass of tentacles next to Loki, snapped out one of those tentacles to “Constrict!” the Alakazam’s arm and hold him in place. The Noctowl was ordered to “Night Shade!” Loki with a frightening mirage of something personal to him. This was their ultimate combination attack.

Simipour, meanwhile, ran closer to Seelie and positioned the end of her tail in front of her. From that tail came a pressurized stream of boiling water meant to Scald the Sylveon.

The four acolytes on the ground observed the pirates struggle to fight off Zack. They tallied up the sides. Suddenly, their odds didn’t look so low.

However, two pirates flew overhead with their wingsuits and saw the situation in front of the tower. They curved back towards the battle, aiming to land on the rooftops to both sides of Zack.

Top Of The Tower

Inside the top of the Tower, Helena had to only ascend two more floors up the spiral staircase to reach the vault chamber: a modest sized room as simple yet mystical as the sauna pit she had just been inside. At the far end of the room was a big stone door, with an ancient looking lock keeping it in place. The lock was already undone, yet the door would not budge to the pirates.

“I don’t get this door at all, why won’t it open?” one of the pirates grunted, struggling to finagle with the archaic device in front of her. Two pirates next to her agreed. "This password is rough-"

“Forget it.” One of the bigger, buffer pirates wore a wingsuit of a dark blue opposed to light grey, smoking a cigar. This man was Nowell, the Fishbone’s first officer and the leader of the strike team appointed by their captain. Nowell ashed his cigar on the sacred floor. “Blast the damn thing open, who cares if they can close it when we’re done?”

That’s when he heard the metal clanging footfalls of Ecarlate coming up the stairs. Nowell and the pirates looked to the doorway and saw Helena and her Scizor approaching. “…who the hell is this?”

Fishbone: Above Deck

He had fallen behind.

Rarely had Durendal seen Salieri worked up like this. Her determination was different this time. When she flew ahead on Banksy, the look in her eyes didn’t show that hunger that plagued them since he had known her. Ravenous was a better term. She needed to make this work. Finding Prou was making her crack.

She flew ahead, and now he was behind, and even after Teleporting, Durendal couldn’t see her. Salieri needed him. But then why did she leave him there?

Lethal’s Scald rained down on Swoobat from up high, an ambush that got everyone on deck to turn their heads to the sky. “There’s more?!”

Mantine flew up towards Lethal and Serene while Lethal was busy keeping them afloat, opening his mouth to shoot a Water Pulse up at Dune. From below, Shiftry fired a machine gun spray of Bullet Seeds at Lethal while the Clawitzer was busy making their descent safe.

The Seviper coiled his body up like a spring and leapt into the air, whipping around his Poison Tail to slash at Serene with the sharp, acidic blade on its end.

Dune took a deep breath, becoming still in the air. Training the past week to master his new mode seemed a waste if it wasn’t used here. He was hoping his trainer would’ve been able to see the premiere of Balestra a La Mode. Oh well.

His Pressure, inert until now, caved in on itself. It became a grey orb that grew darker and redder the closer it got to him, creating a strong swirl of wind that circled around that shell until Durendal was no longer visible.

And not even a second later, the shell popped and disappeared like it was nothing, releasing a gust of wind all around him. What was left inside was a dense cloud of dust the color of Mars floating around Durendal’s chest like a puffy jacket. Blushing, Dune swatted it away, parting it over his side, where it hung around and off his neck like a long flowing scarf. Deciding the scarf of dust was a better look he kept it, put a fist on his hip and pointed his other knife at the sky, shining in the sun.

Over the past week, Salieri had helped him learn to control his Pressure with intense concentration. Instead of making his fighting spirit envelop the battlefield, he kept it in a concentrated form around himself, and from there he learned to throw it around. The high Pressure zones collided with the relatively low Pressure zones, shifting the wind around dramatically.

When Balestra a la Mode was on, gone were the Abilities Pressure and Inner Focus. They were replaced with a new one: the ability to summon the wind.

Durendal flew down, his Mars red dust scarf trailing behind him, and he dramatically pulled an arm across his chest. A burst of crimson tinted wind blew from Lethal’s side, pulling the Bullet Seeds off their path with added momentum. Dune swirled his arms in circles, airbending the Bullet Seeds on their new path to collide with the Water Pulse. The seeds battered away at the wavering rings of water until they were just droplets, and from there Dune kept plummeting to dropkick Mantine with Assurance.

There was no doubt that he was at his fastest with his Fleché Mode, but with Balestra he could use the wind to support his allies more clearly. If they were to stop this cannon, they’d need to have each other’s backs.

Fishbone: Bottom Deck

The guard felt something staring at him from behind. He took one look at Hazard and his scream was muffled before he collapsed, fast asleep.

Hazard opened the window and little things flew out with the pressure. A piece of old gum, a mug from an open door near them, someone’s fork. Pirates were messy.

The alarm for the emergency window was tripped. Under normal circumstances, it would warrant more immediate concern. However, Salieri had already tripped the alarm on the upper deck, capturing the attention of those pirates already on high alert. This resulted in the response to the window being slower, more deliberate, as the pirates on lookout considered it could be a side effect of Sal’s rampage but weren’t entirely sure.

Right now, Hazard and the sleeping guard were at the corner of two hallways. On the far end of one of them were the stairs leading upwards. The end of the other hallway would twist into another hall that would eventually lead to the hangar.

Three sets of human footsteps could be heard from the top of the stairs. “Devin? Devin! Deviiiiiiiin!” called someone from out of sight up there. When they received no answer, they dropped a Pokéball that rolled down the stairs, opening at the bottom to release a Cloyster (34). The Bivalve Pokémon was kept in place by her weight, scanning with a fixed grin the situation before them.

As soon s the Cloyster saw Hazard and put two and two together, she’d tuck into her shell and fire off a round of Skill Linked Icicle Spears down the hallway, a signal to the other pirates up the stairs that something else unwanted was indeed inside the ship.

Fishbone: Top Deck

The alarm’s sirens were turning the halls a flashing red while the normal lights grew dim, casting shadows everywhere. Salieri was pressed up against a wall, ready to ambush three more pirates running down the hall. “Ivan, let me see your Psyshock.”

A shrill noise came out of the Pokégear, making her flinch. “Beepboop, sorry, I was laughing. I calculate a 75% chance that you will like this.”

The screen to her smartwatch glowed again, this time releasing a dark red energy. Unlike the other attacks he’d used so far, which were projectiles, this energy didn’t go far. Instead, it went up Salieri’s arm, covering it entirely from the shoulder down. The light bathed her arm until it snapped into place, form fitting around the limb like one long shiny glove.

It was weird. Salieri could feel the power of the move quite literally in the palm of her hand. And like everything else she'd found out Ivan in the past two minutes, she spared no time to ponder the mechanics of it as she jumped out from the corner. Taken by surprise, the pirates were vulnerable to her first strike as she punched her Psy-Arm into the first pirate’s gut. She felt a bone crunch past her fist. The pirate was thrust backwards, knocking him down the hallway and into a far wall.

“Well?”
“100% chance, Ivan.”

Another pirate jumped up for a lunging punch, something Salieri brought her Psy-Arm up to block. The attack easily nullified the power of a human punch. With her free arm, Salieri grabbed the pirate by the collar and headbutted him hard.

She would’ve kept going, but the third pirate released a Sneasel (33). Already the stealthy Dark type was on her, grabbing onto her shoulder and holding a Metal Claw to her throat. [Don’t move.]

A Flamethrower sniped the Sneasel off her shoulder and unconscious onto to the floor. Salieri looked over her shoulder past the heat haze and saw Banksy bringing up the rear. She kicked the pirate next to her on the floor in the head to ensure a knock out, then pinned the last pirate to the wall with her Psy-Arm. She was aready loving this thing.

“Where is Prou?” she demanded to know. The pirate gulped.
“Prou?”
“The ******** off…”

Salieri crushed her elbow into his forehead, knocking him out as well. Salieri nodded to Banksy and kept going until they reached a fork in the hallways.

“Sal, the cannon should be in the lower hold, at the bow past the hangar,” Mia instructed her, still on the line. “To your left.” Salieri could hardly pay attention: way farther down the righthand hallway, she saw the mess hall doors close. And Prou’s white skirtlike extension go through behind it.

“Prou’s in the mess hall-“
“Salieri, the cannon,” Mia emphasized, more desperately.
“…she’s right there.” Sal looked at Banksy, who’s weary old eyes lingered on the same mess hall doors.
“I know, she’s close, and you’ll get her, but I’m running out of time.” Salieri mulled it over, reaching for her beltbag. “That cannon has enough rounds loaded to saturate all of Shalour. It’s not a bluff.”
“I know.” Salieri took out a can of spraypaint and etched out something quick on the wall. “I know, Mia.”
“Okay, so go left. Salieri, come on. They need you.”

Salieri held up her Pokégear so Ivan could get a clear view of what she had spraypainted, in all capital letters: TAKE MIA OFF THE LINE.

“…Sal, are you listening? They’re counting on-”

Mia’s voice cut off abruptly at Ivan’s will. Salieri took one look down the lefthand, empty hallway. She heard more boots ring in heavy steps. Pirates were coming.

Salieri and Banksy ran to their right.

Fighting Pirates Remaining: 19 on the Island, 18 on the Fishbone

Time Until Cannon Can Operate: 6 Minutes 45 Seconds